Ground Turkey Taco Quinoa Skillet
- March 3, 2022
- Last Updated: March 21, 2025
- 5 Comments
- Recipes
This turkey taco quinoa skillet is an easy, gluten-free, delicious weeknight meal that comes together quickly. Made with cheese, quinoa, ground turkey, black beans, veggies, these ground turkey quinoa bowls will be a new favorite!
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Reviews are in and this quinoa ground turkey skillet is a family favorite. At least in our house and throughout the neighborhood.
The best part is that it’s made in 20 minutes, like my favorite cheesy beef taco pasta, which is seriously a goldmine for busy athletes and families.
One of my favorite tips for meal prep for athletes is to keep your pantry stocked with convenient, easy to use ingredients for busy nights.
Well, this cheesy taco skillet with ground turkey and quinoa is just that. We drew from our canned products of corn, beans and tomatoes, which we always have stocked.
Canned products are lifelines, especially for this quinoa turkey casserole.
The idea for quinoa taco meat never came to me until testing this recipe.
I figured I’d add cooked quinoa because it’s so fluffy and it meshed SO WELL with the ground turkey and flavors here.
This turkey quinoa recipe will quickly become a house favorite.
It reminds me of my favorite one pot taco tortellini pasta recipe, but with quinoa.
Even kids enjoy it, especially when served with tortilla chips or in a taco, soft or hard! Totally one of the better quinoa recipes for toddlers.
Why You’ll Love Ground Turkey Quinoa Bowl
- Easy ingredients – The ingredients are versatile and can easily be modified or swapped. No ground turkey on hand? Leave it out or substitute with ground chicken or ground beef. You can even serve it wrapped in a wrap or tortilla, or stuffed into peppers.
- Healthy and filling – This ground turkey quinoa bowl is full of fiber and protein from the quinoa, beans and veggies, which will keep you nice and full.
- Uses canned veggies – Canned black beans, canned tomatoes and canned corn star in this turkey quinoa bowl, which is why it’s so important to stock your pantry!
- Ready in 20 minutes – Don’t underestimate how great this taco quinoa skillet can be on a busy weeknight. Ground turkey cooks quickly, and can cook while the quinoa is boiling, in about 8 minutes. Canned black beans, tomatoes and corn are ready instantaneously. Another 20 minute favorite are these Turkey burger bowls.
Ingredients for Turkey Taco Quinoa Skillet
This turkey taco quinoa skillet recipe tastes like a ground turkey quinoa casserole.
Served with any toppings and sauces of your choice (guacamole, avocado, tortilla chips, salsa, extra cheese), it is fully personalizable!
We’re really just combining everything here to make these delectable ground turkey quinoa bowls. So, you’ll need:
- cooked quinoa
- yellow onion
- ground turkey
- taco seasoning
- canned corn
- black beans
- fire roasted canned tomatoes
- shredded cheese
- crumbled tortilla chips
- avocado
- salsa, optional
- cilantro, optional
While you can add more or reduce ingredients from here, this is usually what I prefer and what we typically keep as our pantry staples.
This ground turkey taco skillet can be as simplistic as you want or need it to be.
After all, this is one of our favorite Thursday night dinners, before we’re out of food for the week and we either plan to eat out or make a grocery trip.
Ideally, your cooked quinoa is fluffy. I love mixing quinoa and ground turkey together.
You can probably make faux quinoa taco meat without the ground turkey, but I think the quinoa adds a fluffy component and it helps the meat last longer.
In other words, quinoa ground turkey is a great way to add more plant-based fiber and buff up the meal to lend more servings and leftovers.
How to Make a Cheesy Taco Skillet with Quinoa
Don’t let the quinoa throw you off. You’re just adding it cooked. So, if you have leftover quinoa from another recipe, this is a great way to use it.
Up until this point, I’d use leftover quinoa for this lemon herb cheesy quinoa, but now I think I’m more inclined to save it for this turkey taco casserole.
To start, if you don’t have pre-cooked quinoa, cook your quinoa.
While that’s working, start with cooking your onions in some olive oil and garlic, if you’d like. Then, add your ground turkey to a medium pan over high heat.
Cook the ground turkey until it’s no longer pink.
Food safety recommendations advise cooking to 165 degrees. Use a meat thermometer to be safe!
Then, you’ll add in the taco seasoning, canned tomatoes, corn and black beans. Heat and cook for a few minutes before letting it simmer.
You’ll combine everything to form this tasty ground turkey quinoa casserole.
I also love to add avocado to the quinoa ground turkey mixture, and crushed tortilla chips for some crunch.
If you’re a cilantro fan, using it as a topping is great! There really is nothing like a turkey taco casserole that you can dip chips into.
Tips and Modifications for Skillet Taco Bake
- Can I make quinoa taco meat and leave out the turkey? Yes, to make quinoa taco meat, just sub out the turkey and mix the quinoa with beans and other ingredients. If you did want to add another plant based protein in there, you could add tofu or tempeh. If you do add tempeh and have an air fryer, this air fryer tempeh is fantastic.
- What do I serve this turkey quinoa skillet with? We typically serve as is, like a ground turkey quinoa casserole. I either crumble tortilla chips on top, or we’ll roll it up in a tortilla or burrito. It’s great on its own in a bowl, too, or stuffed in peppers. You can even serve quinoa ground turkey in a salad, too.
- How to store skillet taco bake – This skillet taco bake probably won’t need to be stored. It’s so good that we never have leftovers! If you do, let it cool completely and store in a glass container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. You can also freeze it for 3-5 months.
TRY some of these other EASY recipes!
- Skillet breakfast scramble
- Pizza beans skillet
- Egg noodle stir fry
- Instant pot quinoa with vegetables
- Healthy turkey sausage breakfast casserole.
Turkey Taco Quinoa Skillet
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa, cooked
- ½ yellow onion, diced
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground turkey
- 2 tsp taco seasoning
- 1 clove fresh garlic, minced
- Black beans, drained and rinsed
- ½ can fire roasted canned tomatoes
- 1 can corn
- 3/4 cup shredded cheese
- Crumbled tortilla chips
- ½ cup salsa, for topping optional
- Avocado, optional
- cilantro, for topping optional
Instructions
- In a small pot, combine quinoa with liquid and cook according to directions.
- While quinoa is cooking, dice your onion. Add diced onion, ground turkey, taco seasoning and garlic to non stick skillet, cooking over medium heat.
- Add in black beans, canned tomatoes and canned corn. You can also add in optional spices such as garlic powder, paprika or red chili flakes.
- Cook on high heat for 2-3 minutes, and then simmer for 5 minutes.
- Before serving, add shredded cheese, tortilla chips, and any other toppings of choice.
Notes
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Support Bucket List TummyLove this turkey skillet, our favorite way to use ground turkey
If we freeze this, what is your recommendation to reheat it?
Hi Paige – you can reheat in the skillet (I usually add a little bit of water) or the microwave for best results.
So easy and tasty to pull together in the week, thanks Sarah!
Delicious and was so easy to make. We also added some extra spices and beans to ours.